Pitcher Sarah Dawson threw a no-hitter as Bridgewater-Raynham defeated North Attleboro, 2-0, Monday and win its second South Sectional title in three years.

Scott RocheENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT

TAUNTON – To say that Bridgewater-Raynham High softball pitcher Sarah Dawson has taken her game to another level in tournament play would be a major understatement.

Entering Monday night’s MIAA Division 1 South Sectional final at Jack Tripp Field at Taunton High School, Dawson had recorded shutout wins over Whitman-Hanson and Hopkinton, and a no-hitter win over Norwood in the 2014 postseason.

Dawson again on Monday night proved to be unhittable.

Dawson pitched her second no-hitter of the tournament and the fifth of the season in impressive fashion, as the junior allowed one base runner, a leadoff walk to North Attleboro’s Jillian Costello in the third inning, and retired the final 15 Red Rocketeers to lift Bridgewater-Raynham to a 2-0 win and their second South Sectional title in three years.

Bridgewater-Raynham (23-1) advances to the Division 1 state semifinals and will travel to Martin Park in Lowell on Wednesday night to play North Sectional champion Revere (19-5) with a berth in Saturday’s state final on the line.

“It was another day at the office for Sarah,’’ said Bridgewater-Raynham coach Mike Carrozza. “That’s Sarah’s second no-hitter of the tournament and the fifth of the season.’’

Said Dawson: “My changeup was working well tonight and that was good because it allowed me to get some off-speed pitches in on (North Attleboro). It got them on their toes and allowed me to work the fastball and screwball to my spots and that really helped me out.’’

Bridgewater-Raynham provided Dawson with all the runs she would need in the bottom of the first – without the benefit of a hit – against North Attleboro (18-4) pitcher and Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year Megan Colleran.

The Trojans’ wait-it-out approach against Colleran paid dividends immediately as Madison Shaw and Stacey Korotsky drew back-to-back walks to open the inning. After both runners were sacrificed to second and third by Emily Kurkul, Colleran hit Stephanie Cavallaro with a pitch to load the bases.

Colleran got a strikeout, but Kelsey Leuenberger drew a walk on a full count to score Shaw for a 1-0 Trojans lead.

“We always try to maintain with the girls to be patient at the plate, let the game come to you and don’t chase pitches,’’ Carrozza said. “We want our girls to hit their pitch, not the pitcher’s pitch. I think that mind-set kind of weighed on (Colleran). There were a couple walks and then hit batsmen early. She was a little wild early and we took advantage by being patient.’’

Bridgewater-Raynham increased its lead to 2-0 in the third when Kurkul began the inning with a single to center for the game’s only hit. Courtesy runner Taylor Poulin stole second and was sacrificed to third by Cavallaro. Jenny Heller hit a ground ball back to Colleran, who looked Poulin back to third, but her throw to first sailed wide of the base and allowed Poulin to score.

“I don’t think (Colleran) has allowed that many baserunners in a long time,’’ said Carrozza. “We had a lot of scoring opportunities early in the game and left a lot of people on base. It was a 1-0, then 2-0 game, but it felt like it should have been 4-0 or 5-0. We just didn’t manage to get the bat on the ball much and (Colleran) was able to get outs when she needed to.’’

From that point Dawson was in control, retiring the final 15 North Attleboro batters she faced and finishing with five strikeouts.

The defensive play of the game was turned in by the Trojans in the top of the sixth. North Attleboro’s Emily Knobel connected – the hardest ball hit off Dawson in the game – along the ground. The ball deflected off B-R first baseman Holly Greet and deflected to second baseman Sophia Perez, who fielded the ball and flipped to Greet at first for the out.

“Our defense played errorless ball behind Sarah,’’ Carrozza said. “They made a lot of nice plays that could have gone either way, especially the ball that deflected at first base that we were able to get the out on. That secured the no-hitter.’’